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It seems there are 6 really good teams. The Dodgers and the whole AL field. It makes it tough to pick any AL team, even a dominant Houston club, as a favorite.
Example suing a couple of stats: I determined the "walk - strikeout" advantage for all playoff teams. The Astros are an astounding +620 on the season. Their pitchers struck out 490 (that is 3 per game!!) more batters than their hitters struck out, and they also had a 130 walk advantage. Below is the tally for all teams
HOU 620
CLE 502
BOS 362
LAD 354
NYY 344
ATL 009
COL -06
MIL -46
OAK -68
CHC-101
The Astros first opponent is the one team who can neutralize their biggest strength.
I am rooting for a Brewers vs Indians (anyone but Yankees) WS, but my predictions will go down as

I guess I could just pick by my rooting interests. None of the teams I somewhat dislike are in this year, and most of the field I have pretty unflappably neutral feelings about. I like the Brewers and Rockies a bit, but the Astros and Cubs more. And an Astros-Cubs World Series would nicely match the last two champions, and they're plausible betting choices, too. So I will root for that, but if it comes to it, I don't know who I'd pick or prefer to win.

It seems there are 6 really good teams. The Dodgers and the whole AL field.

I'm biased, but I'm with #6. I can certainly see an argument that the Dodgers are better than the Brewers and Cubs. But not dramatically so and I think you can make an argument the other way, too. And ditto for the Brewers and Cubs vis-a-vis the Indians. If you're going to insist on tiers, I think it's probably three tiers: BOS-HOU-NY, LA-MIL-CLE-OAK-CHI, ATL-COL (that would be my rankings within tiers, downgrading the wild card teams because they have to win an extra game/round).

1. Brewers (chance at first WS title)
2. Rockies (chance at first WS title - less waiting time)
3. Cleveland (longest suffering)
4. Athletics (Massive underdog having to beat three 100 win teams to get there)
5. Atlanta (Cheering for Anthopolous and over-achieving kids)
6. Dodgers (I like to think Puig celebrating WS will be like Ovechkin celebrating Stanley Cup...epic debauchery)
7. Astros (I genuinely like most of the players on their team, but not a fan of the repeat)
8. Cubs (Lesser of three evils)
9. Red Sox (Slightly lesser of two evils)
10. Yankees (Evilest)

1. Red Sox (Favorite team since I was 9 and playing for the Little League Red Sox)
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2. Indians (Lived there when playing for the Little League Red Sox. Saw my first MLB game in Municipal Stadium.)
3. Astros (Closest MLB team during teen years. Saw several games in The Astrodome. Still a fan.)
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4. Brewers (Win one for the Uecker!)
5. A's ("Small market teams can't win")
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6. Braves / Dodgers / Cubs / Rockies (A big pile of meh now that the Cubs have won again.)
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NLDS1 - Brewers over Rockies in 5 (Bernie Brewer arrested after game 5 for public intoxication after breaking into the Harley Davidson museum)
NLDS2 - Dodgers over Braves in 3 (Kershaw is actually good in the playoffs!)
ALDS1 - Red Sox over Yankees in 5 (Total game length for the series north of 30 hours)
ALDS2 - Indians over Astros in 4 (Most strikeouts in a four game playoff series ever)

I like the Cubs because my father did, and the Astros because they are nearby and I see them a lot (though curiously, not at all this season). I like the Brewers a little because I vacationed several summers in Wisconsin, and the Rockies because I have seen them quite a bit recently, in Chicago and Denver as well as here in Arlington.

I followed the Yankees for a few seasons long ago (Mattingly era), and I liked all the Jeter/Rivera teams. The new bunch is just kind of alien to me, but I have nothing against them. I used not to like the Red Sox very much (see, "liked the Yankees") but that has faded, and even then I liked some Sox players (Nomar, Pedroia, Ortiz). But their new stars are also somewhat unfamiliar to me.

1. Dodgers (one of my two L.A. based strat teams and my favourite team before the Jays came along.)
2. Rockies...A's...Brewers... all about the same
5. Cubs... Red Sox (it is funny how underdogs become insufferable once they win)
7. Yankees (because.... Yankees)
8. Braves (racist team name and chop etc...)
9. Astros (they would have been at #2 before they traded for Osuna)
10. Cleveland (taking racism to a whole other level. Not the Redskins, but next to them, the worst organization in pro-sports for normalizing anti-indigenous attitudes)

I get the reverse jinx move here, but the Red Sox won 17 more games than the Indians while playing in a much stronger division.

No reverse jinx, Yankee fan. Lindor is an elite SS, an MVP candidate. Ramirez is an MVP candidate. With EE, Donaldson and Brantley, they have enough offense. Kluber, Bauer, Carrasco and Clevenger are all 1's or 2's. Miller is a dominant reliever. Hand is very good. Those guys can carry them.